Trump's frustration grows as backlash from Comey firing continues

Mike Lee (R-Utah) said Sunday that President Donald Trump is "fully cooperating" with the FBI investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, despite Trump's explicit acknowledgement that he fired FBI Director James Comey over the Russia probe.

McCabe became acting director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation this week following Trump's abrupt firing of Comey.

If loyalty is a key factor in the hiring decision, McCabe might be at a disadvantage.

"If no such tapes exist, then the president owes the American people an answer for why he made such a threat". It will be Trump's first visit to a foreign nation since taking office.

In the tweet, Trump also warned Comey about leaking to the press: "James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!"

For a White House accustomed to bouts of chaos, Trump's handling of Comey's firing could have serious and long-lasting implications. "We need to understand the true nature of the events that led up to director Comey's dismissal", Schumer said Thursday.

The FBI director serves a 10-year term but can be replaced by the president.

"Even that is possible", the president said aboard Air Force One when asked whether he might make a selection before leaving for Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Vatican. And while Trump praised chief of staff Reince Priebus after the House passed a health care bill last week, associates say the president has continued to raise occasional questions about Priebus' leadership in the West Wing. Trump said Comey wanted to have the dinner because he wanted to stay on in the job.

Trump spent most of the week out of sight, a marked change from a typically jam-packed schedule that often includes multiple on-camera events per day. Marco Rubio for president before backing Trump in May 2016. At a one-on-one dinner at the White House in January, Trump asked Comey to pledge his loyalty to the president and Comey declined, instead offering to be honest with him, according the person, who requested anonymity to discuss private conservations.

She also defended the use of word "showboat" for Comey by Trump in an interview earlier in the day. When the opposite occurred, Trump grew incensed - both at Democrats and his own communications staff for not quickly lining up more Republicans to defend him on television.

Much of Trump's ire has been focused on the communications team, all of whom were caught off guard by Comey's ouster. By week's end, he was musing about cutting back on the White House's televised press briefings.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday that Trump fired Comey only after getting a recommendation from the Department of Justice.

The No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, Richard Durbin, went further on Friday and said Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein should appoint an independent special prosecutor to pursue possible criminal charges related to Comey's firing, although he did not specify if he meant such charges should be against Trump.

A Morning Consult/Politico poll conducted last week found that 62% of Republicans and just 16% of Democrats thought Trump was right to fire Comey, while 58% of Republicans and just 9% of Democrats told NBC they approved of Trump's decision.

The president said he never pressured Comey into dropping the FBI investigation, and added that there was no "collusion between me and my campaign and the Russians". "He's a little bit like a quarterback that gets ahead of his offensive line".

An official said McCabe was aboard one of them.

Trump also said that at the dinner, he and Comey discussed whether the U.S. top cop would stay in his role and continue his 10-year term.

But the blowback from Comey's firing left the White House reeling once again.

Even before Trump's provocative tweets, the White House was scrambling to clarify why Comey was sacked.